Butane Cigarette Lighters

Updated on August 18, 2009

The most common form of cigarette lighters today is the
disposable butane cigarette lighters. These lighters can be found at every gas
station and convenience store, ranging from seventy or eighty since to a couple
of dollars and have a plastic housing
that makes them lightweight and attractive, giving manufacturers the ability to
wrap the lighter with a shrink wrapped
plastic skin, that is a certain color, design or even commercial brand name
patterns such as logos or characters
from movies or television shows.

Butane cigarette lighters, the disposable kind, are
extremely cheap and you can find them at a dollar store in packs of three or
four for a dollar. You can even get
butane cigarette lighters cheapers if you buy them in large bulk packages
online, sometimes allowing the price to go all the way down to about 10 cents
per lighter.

You can also get butane cigarette lighters that you must
refill, and believe it or not, these lighters don't cost any more than the
disposable ones in many cases, only being priced at about a dollar or two.
Generally, the butane cigarette lighter will have a valve in the bottom, that
will only open up when you stick a butane
tank into the valve, and refill the lighter.

These refillable lighters are often available in
specialty shapes for only a dollar or two, or up to five fore more complex
designs and can be found in anything from cigarette shaped, to the shape of a
fire extinguisher, a pistol, a human shaped lighter, a lightsaber, bullet, mini
flamethrower, musical instruments or classy lighter shapes with gold plating
and cubic zirconia gems, as well as lighters for nearly every sport and
professional team logo. You can even get butane cigarette lighters tha serve
double duty, functioning as a pocket knife most of the time, then easily
becoming a butane cigarette lighter in case you lose your regular lighter, or
perhaps are stuck in the wilderness without one.

Butane Cigarette Lighters

Butane Cigarette Lighters: How They Work

Butane Cigarette Lighters work by releasing the liquid
butane that is stored in the lighter in a pressurized chamber, into a small and
narrow stream of gas. Butane is a gas uniquely able to work well in this
situation because when under pressure it is a liquid, but as soon as it is
released into the atmosphere it becomes a gas, which means that releasing a
controlled amount of butane is a safe and effective way to create a flame. The
gas is ignited by a band of steel
striking a flint or sometimes by using compressed piezoelectric crystal.

Another great feature about Butane is that it only uses as much
of the liquid Butane as it needs to maintain the flame, meaning that not only
is it safe, in that too much butane cannot be released through normal use and
cause an explosion, but that it uses a minimal amount of butane so that a
disposable lighter may last for weeks or even months depending upon usage.

Butane Cigarette Lighters: Composition

The tank of a butane cigarette lighter is made up of plastic
that are welded ultrasonically. This creates a safe, low pressure chamber with
a metal ball sealing the tank after it has been filled. Depending upon the size
to release a certain level of gas which is what creates a flame of the same
height that remains steady, adjustable with a release valve. The holes on the
steel cap serve to dilute the butane with a certain amount of air, and the
windshield provides heat protection.

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If you prefer to use disposable lighters, you should
consider getting them online and in bulk orders. You can get lighters as low as
$.018 cents or lower if you buy them online in packs of fifty. This will likely
last you a year or more, assuming you use one lighter a week, which is feasible
if you smoke a lot, tend to lose lighters or have friends that “borrow” your
lighter. Get them in bulk and you'll always have a fresh supply of butane
cigarette lighters.

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Comments 2 comments

I have a cigarette lighter, butane I'm sure. The front of it flashes with lights when I open it up. My question is what powers the flashing lights? a tiny battery maybe? does anyone know? thanks. Frank